Interchangeable-letter sign.



F. M. WHIITEIVIORE.

INTERCHANGE'ABLE-LEHER SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. I4, 1911.

1 ,296,261.62 Patented Mar. 4,1919.

, 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

m RI) Ib n m N m @fox illlllllllllllllllllll'lllllll/I F. M.WHITTENIORE.

NTERCHANGEABLE LETTER SIGN.

APPLICATION man Aua.14,|sx1.

Patented Mar.

SHEETS-SHE Elm Ei Y@ ZI!!! FREDEBICK'MONTILIOUS WHITTEMORE, or NEW YORK,N. Y.

INTERCHANGEABLE-LETTER SIGN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 4, 1919.

Application led August 14, 1917. Serial No. 186,138.

T 0 all 'whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I. FREDERICK M. WHIT- TEMORE. a citizen of the UnitedStates, re

siding at New York. in the county of New York and State of New York7have invented certain new' and useful Improvements inInterchangeable-Letter Signs; and I do declare the following to be afull. clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which itl appertains to make and use thesame. y

This invention relates generally to advertising devices. but moreparticularly to certain new and useful improvements in signs.

T he primary object of the invention yis to provide an interchangeableletter sign. .the interchangeable.letters of which `are so constructedand arranged that they may be easily seen and distinguished in thedaytime. and which can be effectively illuminated so as. to bedistinguished at night.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sign of this characterwhich is so constructed that the cost of illuminating it at night willbe considerably less than those now in common use. i

. A further object of thev invention is to provide a sign of thisdescription which will be of extremely simple. strong. durable andinexpensive construction. one which will be eliicient and reliable inoperation. and well adapted to the purpose for which it is designed.

With these and numerous otheuobjects in view. the invention consists ofcertain novel features of construction and combination and varrangementof parts as will bey hereinafter fully described and claimed.

I'n the accompanying drawings forming. a part of the application. and inwhich similar reference characters lare used to designate like "partsthroughout the vseveral A views:

Figure l is a` 'front view of a sign madeup ot four interchangeableletters constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig :2 is a front view of one of the interchangeable letter signs o n anenlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane indi Vlated bythe line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. el is a vertical sectional View taken on the plane indicated by theline 4--4 of F ig. S:

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional View taken on the plane of the line 5 5of Figs. 2 and et; and.

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a portion of the apron carrying theletters and figures.

Referring more particularly to the' drawings. the numeral l designates acasing which is preferably made of metal and which is comparativelyshallow and of substantially' rectangular shape in front view. The backof the casing l. is provided with suitable apertured ears 2 by which itmay be secured to a. support. The front or open side of the casing isprovided with a removf able'plate 3 which has arranged therein asubstantially square-shaped opening 4.-.- The opening l occupies thegreater portion of theplate 3 and is approximately the size of theletters and figures of the sign. The plate 3 is flared inwardly at 5 atthe edges of the opening -l as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 5 of thedrawings.

Fixedly secured within the casing l and extending transversely of thesame is a stationaryniember or plate 6. This plate 6 is disposeddirectly behind the opening 4 and near the inner edges of the flaredportions 5 of said opening. Arranged in the plate 6 is a set. of perfoations 7. vvihese perforations T occupy a space slightly smaller thanthe opening '-l in the plate 3. and are capable of being selectivelydisplayed in a plurality of combinations to form'one at a time theindividual letters of the alphabet and the ten numerical digits.Whenever the word letter is used hereinafter. its broadest detinitionintended. viz.. a mark or character used to represent a sound orarticulation of human speech. thus including numerals. Arranged in theopenings T are lenses 8. These. lenses S are constructed somewhatsimilar to that shown in Patent No, 1.190.-

",lQSfto Harry S. Williams. and havev 'their rear faces formed with anumber of parallel.I

steps 9 which are designed to bend the rays of light and to project themthrough the lenses. The source of light consists of a single electricbulb l0 which is `fixed to the back of the casing l near the lower endof the same in any convenient manner. By thc use of the style. of lensesabove described andl by having` the interior of the casing l. especiallythe inner side of theback of the same brightly painted, the rays oflight will be so reflected-that approximately an equal amount will passthrough each of the lenses.

Revolubly mounted between the side walls 5f the casing 1 is a pair ofrollers 11 and 12, the roller 11 beingl disposed at the upper end of thecasing while the roller 12 is disposed at the lower end. The shafts ofthe rollers 11 and 12 have ends projected through one of the side Walls-of the casingand' suitably shaped to receive a lcrank arm 13 wherebysaid rollers may be revolved. It is to be understood, however, thatother means for turning the rollers may be employed.

Disposed 'upon the rollers 11 and 12 and stretched between the same isan apron 14;. This apron 14 may be made of any suitable material but ispreferably made of very thin sheet or strip aluminum. The portion,

of the apron 14' which is disposed between the rollers passes around theends of the plate 6 over the same. To maintain the apron at all times insuperposed Irelation with respect tothe plates 6, the latter 1s providedwith suitable guides 15 which hook Varound the edges of the apron and"prevent it vfrom bulging outwardly.

As clearly shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, the apron 14: is providedwith a plurality of sets of perforations forming all of the let-ters ofthe alphabet and all of the numerical digits. The apron 14 covers theperforations in the plate 6 with the exception of those which registerwith the perforations 16, and obviously when the Sign isilluminated onlya single character can be seen. The exterior side or face-of the apron1i is painted or otherwise provided with means for indicating thecharacters formed by the different sets of perforations, This is clearlyillustrated in Figs. 2 and 6 of the drawings where the letters formed bythe perforations 16 are outlined by heavy lines.

In Fig. l of the drawings av four letter sign is shown. In this casefour of the casings 1 are secured to a pair of upright posts a and theaprons 14 of the various casings are turned or wound from one roller tothe other until the proper letters appear opposite the openings et. Inthe night when the lamps of the various casings are lit, the says oflight from the same will pass through the registering openings in the,relatively movable members of the casing 4and the letters can beplainly distinguished. In the daytime the letters can be just as readilydistinguished by the heavy lines which outline theml It is obvious thatat any time the aprons may be shifted so that any other word may bespelled.

From the foregoing description, taken in i connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction, use and operation of the devicewill be readily understood without a more extended explanation.

As various changes in form, proportion, and in the minor details ofconstruction may 'be resorted to without departing from the spirit ofthis invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish vto be limitedto the construction herein shown and described other than as claimed.

I claim: v 1. In an interchangeable letter sign, a

casing having an opening in its front, a

letter formed by other of said sets of ope`nv ings, the openings of-each of said sets being adapted to register with and thereby selectcorresponding set of the openings of said plate, said apron hiding theopenings of said plate which are not in registry with a set of its ownopenings.

2. In an interchangeable letter sign, a casing havingan opening in itsfront, a lamp in said casing, a plate in said casing between said lampand said opening and provided with a series of row r, of openings. saidseries registering with said opening. of the casing, and an apronextending between the' opening of said casing and the openings of saidplate and being movable relative to said casing and plate and providedwith different opaque letters and with light openings within theconfines of said letters and themselves combining to form such letters,the onen/ings of each of said sets being adapted to register with andthereby select a corresponding set ofthe openings of said plate, said,apron hiding the openings of said plate which are not in registry with aset of its own openings.

Intestimony whereof I havev hereunto set my hand in the .presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK MONTILIOUS WHITTEMORE.

